Wagner in the Alps

GIUSEPPE PENNISI reports fromthe 2011 Tiroler Festspiele

Too costly or too difficult (there is a seven year waiting list) to ascend to the 'holy hill' of Bayreuth, the Wagnerian Temple par excellence? There is an alternative: the part of Austria bordering with Bavaria. Well, there is Erl, a little rural village of 1450 year-round residents. Since 1613, Erl's villagers have organized, every seven years, a majorPassionPlay where all the population is engaged and some additional participants come from nearby hamlets...